defensetech.org Archives - 09 April 2012, Monday

Here you have it. This photo shows the last MRAP to be shipped home after serving in the Iraq war. This particular MRAP is a Caiman PLus model and it drove out of Iraq on Dec. 18, 2011 as the last U.S. troops were leaving the country. She’s now en route back to the states after being ...

No, this picture doesn’t show a black and white image of the rebel base on the ice planet Hoth. It’s part of a secret, nuclear-powered U.S. Army base that was built under the Greenland ice cap only 800 miles from the North Pole. The base was officially built to conduct scientific rese...

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No, this picture doesn’t show a black and white image of the rebel base on the ice planet Hoth. It’s part of a secret, nuclear-powered U.S. Army base that was built under the Greenland ice cap only 800 miles from the North Pole. The base was officially built to conduct scientific rese...

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In case you haven’t seen it yet, here’s the video of the Coast Guard yesterday sinking a derelict Japanese fishing trawler that’s been adrift since the tsunami that devastated Japan last year. The 164-foot long Ryou Un Maru was sitting in a Japanese port waiting to be scrapped last ye...

Want to see something cool? Watch the video below. As a tipster wrote us, “Your pic of Zumwalt being built is nice, but I have better.” We couldn’t agree more. The video below shows one of the USS Zuwalt’s massive hull sections leaving the Ultra Hall at Bath Iron Works in Maine and be...

Like it or not, the U.S. is dependent on oil and other resources than can only be delivered by sea. Potential adversaries don't require "blue water navies" to interdict those supply lines, but we certainly need one to protect them. We also need a strong navy if we intend to honor our ...

Here’s question we’ve heard several times in the months since last summer’s downing of a CH-47 Chinook in Afghanistan that killed 30 U.S. troops, including 17 Navy SEALs, and eight Afghan Commandos; would those men still be alive if they were traveling aboard an aircraft belonging to ...

For a Aircraft that doesn't work as advertised. That would be Corporate Welfare with the US's security at stake. Canada looks like they are going to want a Fly Off competition which will be interesting. The Eurofighter, Rafael, F-18 SH, F-15SE and the Gripen NG are all flying, shootin...

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Easy fix either buy CH-53Es from the marines and upgraded them and they can also just buy new U-60M from the Army add some USAF upgrades and fixed. With every dollar going to save the F-35 I doubt they will be a any new new helicopter. I know the trolls here will Bo me for saying that...

Well, it looks like the J-20 stealth fighter we showed you yesterday is indeed China’s second stealth jet. The pic above shows a new serial number ending in 02 for the plane, identifying it as the second J-20. The first — unveiled in late 2010 — has the serial number of 2001 written o...

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The AAS-72X or AAS-72X+ could be built and delivered at a cost competitive with the upgrades planned for the Vietnam-era OH-58 Kiowa Warrior and fielded to Army units as early as 2016. This variant is based on the commercial EC-145T2 aircraft which incorporates the more powerful Turbo...

OK BUFFY , EXPLAIN THIS: Russia and China may soon sign a $4-bln contract on the delivery of 48 Sukhoi Su-35 Flanker-E fighter jets to the Chinese air force, Russia’s Kommersant business daily said on Tuesday. “The sides have practically agreed on the delivery of 48 Su-35 multirole fi...

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Any estimate that projects costs for 55 years of operations of a 2,443 aircraft fleet is going to result in a large figure. In fact, more than one-third of the F-35 O&S cost projection is assumed inflation over the next half-century. What is important is that F-35 O&S costs will be co...

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Most loses to BUFFs over North Vietnam came early in the campaign 3 reasons. Due to fear over NVA AAA B-52s flew at very high altitude and where in range of the SA-2s the NVA had. The USAF had a disastrous plan to have the bombers turn right after there bomb release and this broke apa...

“My greatest fear,” Clarke says, “is that, rather than having a cyber-Pearl Harbor event, we will instead have this death of a thousand cuts. Where we lose our competitiveness by having all of our research and development stolen by the Chinese. And we never really see the single event...

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U.S. government investigators, using a fictitious company, were able to easily find electronic parts for weapons from China on the Internet and every single item they bought was counterfeit, despite China’s pledge to crack down on fake products. A new report by the congressional Gover...

Assisted in part by the land-based Second Artillery Force , anti-satellite capabilities, and global cyber activities, this A2/AD challenge threatens U.S. naval platforms, but is far more than just a Chinese navy-based threat; some U.S. government experts have called it an “anti-navy ....

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I agree with that statement, however I like the look of the A-6. When I was growing up I didn't like the F-16 because I thought the intake was similar to that of the A-7, but with an elongated, pointier nose…like it made the front of the aircraft look like a fish with a big open mouth...

So remember a few weeks ago when news emerged that Britain was looking at backtracking on its plans to buy the F-35C carrier variant Joint Strike Fighter for its new carriers that are set to be equipped with new electromagnetic catapults and next generation arrestor gear? You know, th...

Retro Vid: Drones Shooting Air-to-Ground Missiles in the ‘70s In case anyone doesn’t already know it, spy drones have been used in war for decades and this video shows one of the America’s first drones launching an air to ground missile. Yup, this 1972 film clip shows C-130-launched B...

So, the E-8 won't get replaced by the cancelled RQ-4 Reaper. Pity. Boeing has "proposed" developing a P-8 for the job, but they're already spending a lot on their own programs, and if the gov't won't be paying for the replacement, there isn't much incentive for them. A report from Def...

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Storing guns on boats offshore really took off as a business last year. Britain — where many of the operators are from — is investigating the legality of the practice, which has received little publicity outside of shipping industry circles. Floating armories have become a viable busi...

All these rumors of a coup in China this week have been good for one thing here at DT, this pic of the what appear to be the PLA’s fairly new Type 05 mobile howitzers painted in digital camouflage. The vehicles pictured are largely believed to not be part of any coup force, they seem ...

So Air Force Space Command boss Gen. William Shelton gave us a tiny bit more insight into the service’s super secret space spycraft, the X-37B, when he said that it’s doing its super secret — and year-long — mission excellently and that there’s no need for a bigger version of it or to...

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Watch this insane video of an AH-64 Apache attack helicopter perform an extremely low pass over a snow-covered U.S. outpost (some sa y it’s FOB Sharana in Paktika Province) in the mountains of Afghanistan before slamming onto the ground narrowly missing some troops, bouncing back into...

According to the tipster who sent these our way, the aircraft lost all fuel out of the left wing — something you’d expect when a giant hole is punched in the wing. This meant that the right wing was full of 15,000-pounds of aviation fuel, a situation that caused the aircraft to tip so...

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Check out this footage of Syrian rebels using an antitank weapon to destroy a Syrian government fighter jet sitting just outside its hardened aircraft shelter. Yup, it looks like the rebels used an antitank missile to hit what looks like a Mig-23 Flogger (maybe it’s a Mig-29 fulcrum o...

Now, some news reports say the Russian’s claim they’ve just sent a Navy tanker to support anti-piracy operations in Middle Eastern waters and that any troops aboard that ship are simply there to protect the tanker’s civilian crew and that there are no Russian counterterror troop in Sy...

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The modification is to the F-22’s Emergency Oxygen System handle, which makes it easier for the pilot to access. Det 1 model makers Floyd Slinker and Terry Waugh designed it. Approximately 200 handles, which cost $47 apiece to manufacture, have been delivered, including spares. The ha...